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For me and my family, gingerbread houses and Christmas go hand in hand.

There’s something so festive and comforting about those adorable miniature homes covered in seasonal candy. Although I haven’t been making them for as long as the Germans (they began in the early 1800s) or even the White House (1969, to be exact), it is something my kids and I look forward to doing together every year.

Perhaps mine aren’t as grand as the White House’s, where pastry chefs use 33 pounds of royal icing and 200 pounds of gingerbread on just one home, but we sure have a lot of fun designing, decorating and, inevitably, eating them during the weeks leading up to Christmas.

What sets gingerbread apart from other holiday cookies is the dark brown color from the addition of molasses and brown sugar, plus all of the tasty spices including cloves, ginger, cinnamon and allspice. And because gingerbread houses should be edible, you need to use a strong icing to hold all your pieces together. In this case royal icing serves as the “glue” or “cement.” Royal icing is simply made up of egg whites and confectioners sugar or, alternatively, you can use meringue powder and water in place of egg whites. Meringue powder is a fine white powder made primarily egg whites and stabilizers, which can be found at baking specialty stores or craft stores.

Once you have your gingerbread and royal icing, it’s time to dig through the pantry to find the festive and sweet decorations. Leftover Halloween candy, cereal and shredded coconut usually do the trick in my house.

Using a template directly on the dough helps keep straight sides when cutting it out.Carrie Parente

Remove and reserve excess dough, which can be rerolled later. If you are making windows or door openings be sure to cut those out before baking. For a stained-glass effect, fill windows with crushed Jolly Ranchers or Life Savers before baking.

Royal icing is the “glue” that will hold your walls and ceiling together. You’ll also use this to adhere all of the decorations to your house. Traditionally, royal icing contains egg whites. If you are concerned about eating raw eggs, then use pasteurized egg whites or meringue powder.

Since royal icing hardens very quickly, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the icing or cover it with a damp paper towel. Fill a piping bag or a plastic baggie with royal icing and then you're ready to use it.

Some bakers prefer to assemble the walls and ceiling before decorating while others decorate each wall and roof panel while they're laying flat and then assemble once all of the decorations are hardened. Personally, I assemble first then decorate. I usually assemble my houses on cardboard cake rounds — but a scrap of any clean cardboard box works just as well.

Assemble the house on cake rounds or cardboard and let the glue dry for a day before decorating.Carrie Parente

Cut out the cardboard you need and wrap it in foil or wrapping paper and you’re good to go.

“Glue” together the wall pieces and let them dry thoroughly. I even “glue” the bottoms of the wall pieces to the base so the house doesn’t move around.

Once the walls are dry and secure it’s time to install the roof. As the “glue” on the roof is drying, I find it helpful to prop up the roof panels with a drinking glass to keep it in place and prevent it from sagging.

To make sure I've got a sturdy base, I like to assemble my house a full day before decorating it. This gives the “glue” plenty of time to harden so that the structure is secure.

Using plenty of candy, pretzels, dried fruit and nuts, it’s time to make your gingerbread house a home.

Decorating makes your gingerbread house a home.Carrie Parente

Shingle the roof with cereal, sliced almonds, or sour strips of candy. Pave a pathway with mints or pretzel sticks. Inverted ice cream cones covered in green icing make great trees, while stacked marshmallows make the perfect snowman. You can even use red string licorice to make a little scarf for them.

Don’t forget to finish it all off with a sprinkling of snow in the form of shredded coconut or powdered sugar.